I am new to chicken owning, I have had the girls since week old and they are now around 19 weeks. I have two laying. One of the laying girls has recently had an impacted crop, I also noticed that one of her eggs was soft shell, she laid it while roosting which she has been using the nesting box for a few days before, I also found some of that shell hanging out her bottom, some I got out some went back in and her bottom was red. I gave her a warm bath twice yesterday and a good massage of the crop and this morning the crop seems softer and hardly there today however she is lethargic and just standing there. Any ideas on what else could be going on? or will this just take time for her to feel her old self? I have bought her inside and she is quiet but still having a drink, I have shell grit nearby but no food as I read to keep food away with the crop issue till it digested - not sure if this is right or not. She has pooed - I'm not that ofay with whats normal and whats not really, some seem normal and others watery with only white (no brown etc) but are all smallish. Generally she chats a lot and is barely doing so. She has a little walk around but that's it. She seems puffed out but not what I call fluffy or ruffled.Thankyou for any help or advice offered.

Last edited by Hays on Sun Mar 05, 2017 12:50 pm, edited 1 time in total.

If she had some broken shell hanging from her then I'd be concerned she has had an egg break inside her and is now suffering an infection (Egg Peritonitis). Treatments are unfortunately minimal and aren't overly successful in the majority of cases. Others may be better able to advise what might be going on, but the aforementioned infection would be my guess.

thankyou this was something I had suspected. I do feel as though I removed/she passed the rest of the shell. As mentioned she is barely into a week of laying and the egg with soft shell was laid and the part hanging out was within a short time of me letting them out in the morning. I had a feel around and I'm no expert so I have no idea really. her crop has still got stuff in it but its a lot softer. she is drinking but ive taken away food for the crop to settle and I'm not sure if I'm doing the right thing. Shes had a bath and enjoyed that so I hope if there is an egg stuck this will help.is shell grit enough ? its so hard having five I cant work out exactly if she is eating what she should be. She is second in the order usually. I did change them from grower to layer and I wonder if this has impacted as well. could it be worms? ive also checked for mites and am almost 100% they don't have those. shes still looking around and mostly alert her tail perks up a bit and she chats when we enter the room or the kids go close.

Hi Hays and welcome to BYPOften when a bird first begins to lay they produce some strange egg. Soft shells and over night drops are not unusual. So long as all the old egg has been expelled she should be safe from infection. The layer is the best food for them once they have commenced laying and should make up the majority of their diet. Extra shell grit available for them to help themselves is good. This should be sufficient if the layer feed is a pellet. If it is a grain mix then you should also provide hard grit (unless there are small stones available to forage). The hard grit assists with grinding of grain at the start of the digestive process.Keep her separate from the others and offer her pellets to eat tomorrow and check her crop. It should be full in the evening and empty by morning. Could you please click on the link below and paste you answers back into this thread so that we can offer more specific advice

What is wrong? What symptoms have you noted? - As much detail as possible please.ANSWER: lethargy, standing still, soft shell egg, some shell hanging from bottom

What are you feeding? - Please list everything you're feeding to your birds, including type of basic feed, free ranging, scraps, extras, etc. If possible give approximate percentages.ANSWER: country heritage layer pellet and also scratch mix if i lock them in the pen a handful to keep them occupied, they free range the whole yard almost every day for most of the day, shell grit, scraps less than a small container a day, watermelon, cantelope, pumpkin seeds

Full droppings description.- colour, consistency, frequency, offensive smell.ANSWER: usually pretty normal but now its sometimes with grass, and last few very watery with lumpy small amounts of poo dark green in color, no smell noted

Digestive Changes?- eg. eating, drinking, crop filling & emptyingANSWER: until today she has been eating and drinking fine and friday morning is when i noticed her crop had not emptied. yesterday she seemed to pass some but not all and she enjoyed mostly dust bathing and the occasional scratch, today she was lethargic and i had to coax her out the hen house, crop was still pretty full but not as hard was softer but she appeared worse in herself. both friday and yesterday i found eggs she had laid whilst roosting the one yesterday some of the shell was missing but i hadnt realised until i collected it took it to the bin and noticed her tail was down, upon inspection she had some soft shell hanging out her bottom.

Condition Changes?- eg. Weight, comb/wattle colour, skin, featheringANSWER: everything seems ok, i had thought she had some dark spots on her comb but i suspect it is actually just dirt as some came off when i gave her a warm bath today

Behavioural Changes?- inc. socialising, laying, crowing, broodinessANSWER: she hasnt seemingly laid an egg today, for the few days prior she had laid in the nesting box - but last two times she has seemingly laid at night rather than mid morning/lunchtime. yesterday she didnt follow everyone as usual but did if worried run over, today she wasnt interested in anyone she only chatted if the kids came close

Describe your usual worming routine and products. [If none, say so and skip the next 3 worming questions.] Do you have a cycle that you use eg. every 3 months, or every six months?ANSWER: i havent wormed them

1. When was the bird last wormed??- approximate date. ANSWER:

2. What product was used to worm the bird, and how was it given? ? eg. in the drinking water, on the skin, by injection?ANSWER:

Other changes? – additions to the flock, diet, housing, extreme weatherANSWER: changed from starter grower to layer pellet, its been hot on and off but has been hotter earlier in the year no additions no housing changes

Thanks Hays - good information. There is nothing of concern in diet/ husbandry etc. The green, watery poo is because she is not eating/digesting. The green colour is basically 'unused' bile. Does her breath smell. There are basically 2 conditions which can cause problems in the crop. If the smell is yeasty, the condition is likely to be a fungus infection and can sometimes be successfully treated with an over the counter product from the chemist. If there is a rotting smell, she has an infection and will need vet prescribed antibiotics

Below are some links to some information/other posts discussing crop problems.

Thankyou. I do agree they appear to be two separate issues showing themselves at the same time.She is very alert today crop is much lower and smaller and feels likes its moving. No squishy sound and not hard either. i will try and get her mouth open but nothing is smelling either end.Last night when i got home she was perky and was pacing the house - she didnt settle in her cage so i returned her to the hen house to roost for the night. I retrieved her again this morning and as we speak she is having some watered down layer feed. I will keep a close eye on her and see how she digests this today and go from there. there is no fluffyness going on today at all that i have seen and she is chatting away to me and was trying to source food from every crumb around the house haha which is why i thought some softened layer feed would hopefully do the trick.Im not that up to scratch with how often they lay, but no other egg as yet so will keep an eye on this as well.do you think som vitamins in the water may help at this point?

hi again,The crop issue seems to have somewhat resolved itself but i'm still keeping a close watch. How long before i should be concerned about laying as there hasn't been an egg since friday, again not that ofay on where or how to tell if anything is not passing etc. She is not even visiting the nest attempting too which she did up until monday.Thankyou

I wouldn't be too concerned about the laying atm. If she is not visiting the nest box, she is unlikely to be carrying an egg. (make sure that there is no secret nest anywhere). There is a fairly typical (bum down) 'penguin stance' if she is egg bound. You would be unlikely to miss it. As a fairly new layer, production can be a bit erratic at first. It is also possible that now that the day length is decreasing she may go off the lay and into a moult, especially as she has had some stress. If so, if you haven't already wormed, take the opportunity ASAP.If you feel her pelvic bones - two sharp bones below her tail (either side of her vent) that will give you an idea of her laying status - two fingers apart and she is 'in lay', closer together and she is going/gone 'off lay'

Bet you never thought you would get so familiar with the working end before you got your chooks

Yeah, no definitely NOT!! LOLLthankyou that makes sense. The other layer lays every day like a crazy woman lol im not one to panic but i just like to be as informed as possible so i know what to look for so thankyou i truly appreciate all the help and advice!

Hi me again. So all is going well with my girl fingers crossed it stays that way!Today I had my hubby use the nasty insect spray to kill some spiders outside we were clearing the back and I think one of the girls ate the spider in quite worried. Is there anything I can do? Also wormers were mentioned the other day and I wondered what you use as it's quite overwhelming the options.

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